For the first time in its 40-plus-year history, the Texas Folklife Festival at the Institute of Texan Cultures is scaling back — in duration and size.

Construction related to the convention center expansion has caused organizers to reduce Folklife from three days to two days, and to shrink its footprint so that it begins right at the ITC flagpoles, instead of beginning closer to HemisFair Park.

But Folklife organizers say the long-lasting festival will pack a more potent punch.

Folklife features 40-plus cultural and community groups: more than 30 ethnic food booths totaling more than 150 menu items, live music and dance on six stages, more than 50 artists selling their wares. In an attempt to bring more interaction to Folklife, expect more demonstrations and lectures from artisans and cooks.

“We’re trying to preserve and share more in a different way the information so that visitors can get more out of their experience, if they want more,” said JoAnn Andera, Folklife’s director for more than 30 years.

The menu runs the gamut from Pakistani kabob-and-curry plate to Chinese barbecue pork buns to American Indian buffalo burgers.

“The No. 1 reason people come to Folklife is to eat,” Andera said, “so we’re really highlighting the different foods.”

From the performances to the eating, the smaller footprint means less walking around. And because of the convention center construction, and the subsequent HemisFair upgrades, Andera predicts the Festival will remain with the smaller footprint for the remainder of its days.

Whether it returns to three days is yet to be seen.

“I really don’t know,” Folklife director JoAnn Andera said. “We have to get through this one and evaluate. We do visitor input … and then we sit down and talk about what we did right, what we have to improve on.”

Advance tickets, $10, are available at TexasFolklifeFestival.org, at H-E-B stores and military bases. Tickets are $13 at the gate; kids ages 6-12 are admitted for $5, in advance or at the gate.